Minnesota Visitors

Jay and April visited us for a couple of days. They retired recently and decided to leave Minnesota for a two-month tour of the West. Gloria and I had never met Jay, but we knew April, although we hadn’t seen her since she was a young girl. Her parents were active members of a church I served as pastor 25 miles east of Rochester, New York. Her older brothers were teens and she was ten in 1964, when Gloria and I moved from New York State to serve a church in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

We enjoyed showing Jay and April some of our Colorado Springs scenery and conversing with them about spiritual matters. We had lots to talk about, and names from the past rolled out of our minds’ archives.

Jay and April’s daughter Danielle and son-in-law Joseph are missionaries to Spain.

In my pastoral ministry, I was involved in the construction of two church buildings, but the constructions that mattered most were those involving families. I don’t believe a pastor has a greater joy than that of seeing the faith taught and caught by succeeding generations. We may build church structures for the future, but we build families for eternity.

So Much for Patient Privacy

During my post-op appointment with the surgeon yesterday, an older couple entered the waiting room and received customary medical forms to complete. They sat near me, and the woman began reading the list of diseases the old fellow was supposed to check off. In the ensuing ten minutes the old fellow responded audibly to each item. and then his wife placed the checkmark at the appropriate place.

So much for patient privacy! I learned the man’s medical history, including how long ago he had been a smoker and how long he had smoked. Perhaps his glaucoma had required his wife’s assistance in reading each medical form to him.

Frankly, I hope I never reach a stage of life in which I have to share my medical history audibly in a doctor’s waiting room or wherever strangers are within earshot. I am too reserved for that.

On the plus side, it is good that a wife can help her husband or vice versa. In the absence of a spouse, a good friend’s support in times of medical challenges can bring practical help and encouragement.

Solomon wisely observed the mutual benefit of a close partnership. He observed: “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up” (Ecclesiastes 4:9, 10). Contrary to the opinion of some, these words do not refer to suspenders but to the beneficial relationship of spouses.

How can you help your spouse or best friend today?

Priorities Matter

Somewhere I read that a woman sued for a divorce on religious grounds. She told her attorney she worshiped money and her husband didn’t have any.

We can enjoy the humor in this story, but it also has a serious side. Some people do worship money and even accompany such worship with sacrifices. They may sacrifice their own health as they work long hours in the pursuit of what they consider the almighty dollar. They may sacrifice their marriage by devoting far more attention to their financial goals than to their spouse. They may sacrifice their children by leaving little or no time for parenting. They may even sacrifice their souls by having greed as their creed and valuing gold above God.

Jesus issued crisp, significant counsel about setting life’s priorities. He taught us to set our hearts on eternal values. Serving God pays eternal dividends, He explained, whereas serving money leads only to irreversible loss (Matthew 6:19–24).

To be sure, the Bible does not condemn wealth. To the contrary, it lauds a number of wealthy men and women for their service to God. Those individuals had their priorities straight. They valued God above money. Like them, we should be good stewards of our money instead of slaves to it.

—An excerpt from The Anchor, Haven Ministries, written by Jim Dyet

Declaration of Dependence

I have been unblogged this week. Due to surgery Monday, I haven’t spent much time at the computer. I had extensive surgery to clear scar tissue from my right nasal passage. I have been bleeding since then and must change a dressing under my nose every couple of hours. Needless to say, I will be happy when the bleeding stops.

We all face medical challenges from time to time and realize doctors can do only so much. Ultimately, healing is a divine prerogative. We must depend on the Lord to do what He deems best. As we celebrate our nation’s independence, perhaps each of us should construct a Declaration of Dependence, a prayer in which we declare our dependence on the Lord for every need.

Michael and Farrah

Two celebrities left life on earth this past week, just two hours apart. Farrah Fawcett died of cancer, and Michael Jackson died of cardiac arrest. Farrah Fawcett’s death was predictable; Michael Jackson’s death was unexpected. Both deaths underscore the frailty and uncertainty of life. Proverbs 27:1 and James 4:1 both insist we do not know what a day may bring, and James 4:14 compares life to a vapor that vanishes almost as soon as it appears.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter whether a celebrity can moonwalk and achieve the title, “King of Pop.” What truly matters is whether that celebrity will walk in Heaven and receive the approval of the King of kings. Nor does it ultimately matter if a celebrity is beautiful. What truly matters is whether that celebrity will enter heaven, where unrivaled beauty exists.

The media have devoted many hours to the coverage of Michael Jackson’s life and death, but death is the great leveler. In the normal course of time, every human being will die. But then what? Heaven is the eternal destiny of all who know Christ as Savior, but hell is the eternal destiny of all who reject Him (read John 3:36).

A visitor to England noticed the following epitaph on a tombstone in a country church cemetery:

“Pause, my friend, as you pass by.
As you are now, so once was I.
As I am now, so you will be.
Prepare, my friend, to follow me.”

The visitor scribbled the following note and attached it to the epitaph:

“To follow you is not my intent
Until I know which way you went!”